Let's Kill Tonight
---Spending a free day with her friends was always nice. Actually, aside from her little sister Alex, Casey cared more about her friends and enjoyed spending time with them more than she did her own family. None of them except Alex had ever really mattered to her, since they did nothing but use her anyway. It wore on her, and it was probably why she was so damn... Mercurial. That was the word. However, Shane, Michael, Zach, and Akhratan tended to get the best of her, as they had earlier today, since they were her closest friends. With them, she felt like she could actually breathe, and focus on being more than just the bitch who made everyone steer clear of her. All in all, their outing had been a hell of a lot of fun, and each of them had ended the day with some much needed new clothes. Zach and Akhratan were hopeless sometimes, and Shane could be hit or miss, but luckily for them, she and Michael had come prepared with excellent fashion advice. However, the other four had left about an hour ago to head back to their respective dorms. Casey had decided to linger in the , though, rather than go back. She didn't feel like going back to deal with her roommates, even if they weren't necessarily awful; she just felt like being alone, which was how she'd ended up wandering through the city's park. Nature actually made her feel at peace, and she was relishing the opportunity just to walk and think. Casey happened upon a clearing, however, that boasted a gorgeous view of the city's skyline. Immediately drawn to it, she walked close to the edge of the small cliff, reasoning that the park must've stretched to the outskirts of Domino. She hadn't really expected that, but hey, you learned something new every day. Her hands slid into the pockets of her hoodie as she watched the city hustling down below, absentmindedly pondering what all she had to do the next day. ---- "Quite the view, innit?" A voice begins to break the silence. A figure pierces through the nighttime darkness, before resting her arms over the bench. "I come up here every night to think and to cool off a bit. The cool air on the top of this hill really helps to calm the nerves, and the scent of the trees is almost therapeutic. It's a nice departure from the hustle and bustle of the city below, and really lets you see the scale of it from the distance." ---- "Yeah, it is," Casey replied, looking over her shoulder to examine the newcomer. A redhead, probably just a couple inches shorter than she herself was. For some reason, though, she got the sense that this girl wasn't any less a pushover than her. In fact, she wasn't sure how she'd come to this conclusion, but she was pretty sure that the other girl was a fellow duelist. "Hm, I can definitely see why. It really is quite peaceful. Oh yeah, I guess I should be somewhat polite for once. My name's Casey, you are?" ---- "Names Aislinn. Aislinn Aoife. Most people just call me Ash, though. Right pleasure to meet you." She speaks up, a warm smile upon her face as she looks back over the horizon. "I've only moved to Domino City quite recently, probably only been here a year or so, but the sights of the place have really drawn me in. Even the emerald fields of Ireland pale in comparison to the beauty of this city. I wanted to expand my horizons as a duelist, and I felt Domino City was the perfect place to do it. It's the place where duelists come to make a name for themselves, after all." ---- Hm, that was an interesting name. Definitely not American...or Japanese, for that matter. "Nice to meet you, too." What was that accent? She hadn't picked up on it at first, but now she could definitely hear it. It almost had to be European. "Ohhhhhh, you're Irish," she couldn't help but blurt out when Ash finished speaking. "No wonder! I was curious about your accent, it's nice." Well, that made a hell of a lot of sense. Of course her accent was Irish, duh. Casey wasn't sure how she hadn't realized that sooner. "Domino City's definitely beautiful, you're right. I love it here. My friends and I hang out here on weekends, it's only a ferry ride away from Duel Academy, and that's where we all go to school. There's some really skilled duelists here... If I remember right, a lot of pros both from Japan and elsewhere live here." ---- "Aye, and you're looking at one of them. I hope I'm not bragging in saying so, but I've been in a lot of the circuits that have popped up in the past few months. I had hoped my reputation would reach further out, a sign that I'm slowly reaching my goal, the goal of being the best duelist I can possibly be. I want to reach the likes of Seto Kaiba and Yugi Muto, perhaps one day even become the Queen of Games. But I need to take baby steps. I need to become the best I can be first, to know that I am ready for the challenges ahead of me." Aislinn speaks up, taking in the cool, crisp air. "You say you're from Duel Academy, I've heard there's a lot of skilled duelists out there, too. Think some of them even ended up becoming regional champions." ---- The mention of Kaiba's name had Casey scowling intently. "Hmph, Kaiba," she grumbled. "That jerk calls himself a master of dragons. Nothing would make me happier than to beat him, show him who the true best dragon duelist is." Shaking her head and recomposing herself, Casey added, "I think you can do it. As long as one has the drive, anything is possible. Can't say the likes of me and my friends will make that easy for you, though. I'd like to think we're all pretty good." Honestly, her friends were good enough to make even her feel a bit insecure at times. Michael was a true prodigy who had learned the game and gotten skilled at it quicker than anyone she'd met. Zach was much of the same, only he had more experience than Michael by far. Shane...had been freakishly good even ''before ''his deck had gotten a major modern upgrade. Casey had been shocked by how good the guy had been just with his old HERO deck. Now? He was unreal. Her Galaxy deck was good, but she figured it was time to try and improve it. "Yeah, a lot of them are ridiculously good. I'm friends with the best duelists the school has to offer, and I can confirm that they make even me look bad from time to time, and I'd like to think I'm at least decent." A pro duelist, though... Hm. There was a lot Casey wanted to ask her, but she wanted to ease into it. She didn't want to just bombard the girl with questions. ---- "Hmm, those eyes of yours. I get a sense you're a Galaxy-Eyes duelist. I've had this habit of knowing what kind of deck a person uses by the drive in their eyes, and I see the galaxy in yours. I may just have the card for you." Aislinn speaks up before opening up a deck box on her belt and pulling out a card. Showing it to Casey, it was . "I run a Nordic deck, so I don't exactly have the materials to summon this card. Won this one in a tournament a few months back but never had a use for it. But you've got plenty of monsters who could definitely bring this little number out. It might not be as strong as its level implies, but as long as Lancelot has Xyz materials, it can attack directly. On top of that, whenever it deals damage, you can destroy a face up card your opponent controls. I was tempted to use it, but I don't have any level eight monsters. Even my Synchros are all level ten." ---- Wow, that was...scarily accurate. Casey was a bit stunned. "I...yeah," she replied, eyes wide. "Yeah, I am. Galaxy-Eyes is my specialty." Not that she'd ever used many other types of decks. Galaxy-Eyes had kind of stuck with her, as she loved the offenisve capability the archetype possessed. Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon in particular was a brutal monster, so naturally it was her absolute favorite. Taking the card, she was a bit caught off guard over it having been offered to her in the first place. "Wow, thank you. I think I can really put this one to good use, especially its second effect. This would be a deadly combo with my Prime Photon Dragon." ---- "I'm a descendant of Celtic Nords, so Nordic monsters are my specialty. Odin's my deck master, and he means nasty business when I get him out on the field. If you've ever looked out towards Domino City in the Duel Academy and saw a giant, bearded fellow towering over the skyscrapers, that would be Odin, All-Seeing King of the North Star. He's immune to Spell and Trap effects and packs a punch with over four thousand attack points. But I can make him even stronger with Draupnir, increasing his power to forty eight hundred. And if he's destroyed, I can just banish the Nordic Ascendant Tuner I used to bring him out and get him back. And if I do, I get to draw a card. He's properly nasty, but not the only Nordic god I run. I've got Thor and Loki as backup, too. Thor's immune to monster effects and Loki can negate the activation of Spells and Traps, then destroy them. They're the titans of my deck and have pushed me to victory on countless occasions." Aislinn spoke up, clipping the clasp over the deck box back in place. Sitting down at the bench, she rests her arms over the backrest and looks up towards the northern star. "They say the North Star is the home of Asgard, the Nordic afterlife, and also houses the legendary hall of Valhalla." ---- "Jeez, yeah, I'd say they sound pretty damn powerful," Casey remarked. "That sounds like a really unique deck, too, to be quite honest. I've never encountered a Nordic deck, so maybe I'll get to see it in action one day." Man, yet another person she'd met who had unique cards. Shane had his ultra-rare HEROes, who were so new and powerful that they weren't even on the market. Michael had his ultra-aggressive Archfiends, and he was the only person she knew that used that deck. Zach's Odd-Eyes deck was, well...odd, and his signature, to boot. Akhratan's Blue-Eyes White Dragons were reminiscent of Kaiba, but other than Kaiba, nobody else besides Akhratan used them that she knew of. "I think I remember what Valhalla is from reading a bit of Norse mythology. It's the part of Asgard that houses the souls of warriors, right?" ---- "That's right. It's something of their mead and food hall. The Valkyries descend down from the heavens, looking for warriors who fell in battle. They become Einherjar and are whisked into Asgard, where they prepare daily for the events of Ragnarok. They also eat and drink to their eternal heart's content, as is the customs of the warriors of Valhalla. Valkyrie, one of my Nordic Ascendants, brings out Einherjar tokens to the field if she's summoned when I have no other cards on the field and my opponent controls a monster. That lets me Synchro Summon Odin." Aislinn replies, looking towards Casey with a warm gaze, one of trust and kindness. "The Nords are powerful monsters and were once indomitable warriors, as were the Celts. They're both part of my blood, and their unwillingness to give up is shown in every duel I'm in." ---- As Ash spoke, Casey moved to sit next to her on the bench. "Ah, I see. That sounds like a very fitting card effect. I guess whoever designed it really did their mythology homework, though...to be fair, it would've been kinda culturally insensitive not to. Especially when the Norse have such a cool, rich mythos to work with. I can understand why they're the basis of an entire archetype." Hell, they were a pretty inventive archetype, at that. Casey was unsure, but she didn't think were any other fullly designed archetypes that were based on mythology in the game. The Nordic archetype was the only one she knew of. "Heh, good. Determination is important for any duelist. What's the point of Dueling if you're just gonna give up when it looks bad? A single card could turn around an entire duel."